Fitting In/Expecting

Language of the Heart: Fitting In & Expecting Mirrored rooms heaped with layers of denim shed for charmeuse. Cheap cotton bras exchanged for phenomenons from France. Madison avenue ateliers. I was graciously offered open access to this parallel universe. Lovingly, I'd approach each gown fitting with abandon. Who wouldn't? It is a marvelous beautification. A uniquely adult dress-up ritual. Sign me up! But then, I was struck with curiosity about what came next. This lead me to consider pointing my lens beyond the dressing room. I ascertained quickly that I had to follow these women home. Where applicable, I asked my models if I could come back to shoot the maternity portion of their lives. Not one said no. By converging the two life events, I have learned to equate the desire to corral one’s body into a brutal but lovely dress, with the desire to distort that same body by becoming pregnant. This discomfort, desire and urge. It smacks of patriarchy and social conditioning. But it is still a profound language of the heart. I shoot this pair of events to observe this language with complete respect. Angela Cappetta angelacappetta.com _______________ Technical notes: All prints are analog, silver-gelatin prints made from black and white, panoramic negatives from with a custom camera. Negatives have an aspect ratio of 1:3 and are full frame and un-cropped.